Advice please...

[CHzo6]

Re: Advice please...

Oh I see. Are the LC cutting pads a little less aggressive than the Meguiar's? I've never used any of theirs.

Nice work on that WS6, by the way. I had an '01 up until 2 years ago.

[FinalTouchDetail]

Re: Advice please...

Meguiars has 3 pads that seem to fall "in between" the LC pads.

I believe their cutting pad is between the Yellow and Orange LC pad, their polishing pad is between the White and orange, and their finishing pad somewhere near the black LC pad.

I still believe that even a novice who has never touched a DA before could start with any pad and not be able to do any amount of irrepairable damage (if any damage at all). If anything a novice seems to complain that they are unable to achieve success in even removing the lightest scratches. That would be a more common occurance than someone coming back saying they think they ruined their paint with a DA polisher (unless we're talking about a Flex, which has considerably more power and throw).

[1Comustang]

Re: Advice please...

You can:

Wash
Clay
Clean - SwirlX
Polish - Optional, but #7 would go here.
Wax
Wax

Obviously a stronger cleaner could be needed if you wanted everything perfect, no way ot say for sure until you try. But honestly, if this is your first time doing some detailing, I think you would be best shining it up with some SwirlX, and getting a good detail in. Then you will have time to look everything over, and see what all defects are there, what you may want to improve. And you'll have a little experience.

Alright, so it looks like I'm getting some SwirlX/Ultimate Compound on Fri. This is not my first go-round at detailing my car. I'm just looking to get a little more in-depth. However...the paint on my car is cracking. Ford's of the late & mid-90's have this problem. It was like that when I bought it. It was a trade-in at the dealership I was working at & I got it for a good price.

[1Comustang]

Re: Advice please...

Oh, my car is black also. I understand black cars are a nightmare, mine especially, but it looks good when waxed. except for the cracks...

[FinalTouchDetail]

Re: Advice please...

Yep, black cars are a pain to maintain, but they are the most fun to work on because it's so easy to see the progress you are making

[Murr1525]

Re: Advice please...

Well, the cracking wont be fixed....

[SVT Lightning]

Re: Advice please...

Oh, my car is black also. I understand black cars are a nightmare, mine especially, but it looks good when waxed. except for the cracks...

Cracks? You might wanna post a pic of them. Sometimes cracks are an indication of clear-coat failure.

[Fly Bye]

Re: Advice please...


I have used an LC cutting pad on a PC with no problem whatsoever. I think what CHzo6 is trying to say is, when using the most aggressive method (outside of wet sanding) to remove deeper defects, try to utilize a technique that yields the least amount of haze, meaning that a final polish/buff will be ''much, much easier''. Some products will scour the finish when used with a PC, but if the right product is used, you may get some light hazing, but you want the haze to be consistent, and not random gouges/scouring.

I have used the yellow LC pad with my PC and got good results, but I was using the right product and a good technique. That said, it's prolly better to stick with a "light cutting pad" in combination with an aggressive polishing compound to remove deeper defects, which I think a lot of folks would concur with.

[1Comustang]

Re: Advice please...

Well, the cracking wont be fixed....

Yea, I understand that. It's mostly the hood. There are some on the fenders and roof but not nearly as bad as the hood. If nothing else I'll use this car as a tester for technique, products etc.